U.S. Armed Forces - Present Day

CHALLENGE:Remember ONE of the 16 MILLION that served during World War II.

"Be the Difference"START CHALLENGE AND TAKE ACTION:

CHALLENGE: Simply download the candle and share it with all your friends on your Facebook page and other social media.

ACTION: Consider donating to the following organizations:

Homes for Our Troops is a privately funded nonprofit organization that builds mortgage-free, specially adapted homes nationwide for severely injured Post - 9/11 Veterans, to enable them to rebuild their lives. The PBS series This Old House featured homes built for disabled veterans

Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund is a leader in supporting the men and women of the Armed Forces and their families. 100% of donations go directly to the program. (The Board of Trustees of the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund underwrites all administrative costs and no portion of contributions are deducted.)

Steven Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation remembers New York City Firefighter Stephen Siller who was off duty and raced to the World Trade Center on 9/11 and was killed. It supports first responders and military who make extraordinary sacrifices in the line of duty.

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Learn about The National World War II Museum. It is designated as the official WWII museum of the United States. Visitors experience that time in history "from the industrial efforts on the home front to the combat experience of the American soldier abroad. It honors the "Greatest Generation".

Use your social media accounts to spread the word!

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TAKING IT A STEP FURTHER!

Learn About a Service Member choosing a name from the list and adding the name on your Facebook page, challenging all your friends on your Facebook page to do the same. You can also add the name of a family member or friend who served in World War II.

Consider doing this as a family activity and teach your children about the meaning of Veterans Day and Memorial Day.

We are providing websites that list information about individual service members, divided in two categories:

- Army and Army Air Forces- Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard

To find out about a service member, you need to be a detective, putting pieces of a puzzle together, writing down information about an individual who served in WWII.

Add the Service Member name to the Start Challenge Form, include: - Personal details you find in your search. - Your thoughts about learning about an individual who served.

Watch Debt of Honor the history of disabled veterans in the United States from the Revolutionary War to the present. It was directed and produced by Ric Burns as part of the PBS series "Stories of Service" and underwritten by Lois Pope.

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Take Action

Please consider donating to the four not-for-profit foundations suggested that help veterans, their families and the WWII Museum. You can donate in the name of a service member that you learned about from the websites provided.

Thoughts...

I learned that every single headstone represents the life of an actual, ordinary person. I learned that each veteran has a unique and interesting story, even if we have very little or no information about the person. (Katie Alexander)

Learning about the lives and deaths of these soldiers has inspired me with the desire to tell others about their impact on the war and essentially on the lives of American citizens... Taking the time to recognize, if only for a moment, one person and the value of their life is important. (Brandon Rickett)

I learned that honoring soldiers is important so as to not forget their sacrifice, but also in order to raise awareness to keep horrors like the war from happening again. I also learned to value human life, as I feel like in wartime sometimes people become numbers and statistics, but they have stories. (Alyssa Hoover)

"Be the Difference - Never Again" highlights those who risked their lives to save others, inspiring us to take action in our lives. It begins with World War II and Holocaust stories remembering the 70th Anniversary of the end of World War II.Meridia pills